In the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued on February 19th, 1942, Executive Order 9066--which designated military zones along the United States coast and directed the army to remove all residents of Japanese ancestry from these areas. The president then created the War Relocation Authority (WRA), a federal agency tasked with caring for the approximately 110,000 Japanese-Americans uprooted by Executive Order 9066. The WRA saw to the planning and construction of long-term internment camps located in the interior of the country where the displaced population would be held for the duration of World War II. Two of the selected sites were located in the Arkansas Delta, one at Rohwer in Desha County--which operated from September 18, 1942-November 30, 1945--and the other at Jerome in sections of Chicot and Drew counties--which operated from October 6, 1942-June 30, 1944. The internment camps at Rohwer and Jerome would incarcerate over 16,000 Japanese-Americans between October 1942 and November 1945.
This collection exhibits materials from school administrators and superintendents, pastors, teachers, social welfare workers, and WRA administrators associated with the internment camps. Materials also source from the Homer Adkins’ gubernatorial papers, articles from the McGehee Times and Dermott News, and the official closing roster of the Rohwer Relocation Center.
All materials within this online exhibit are available for research at the Arkansas State Archives. These items were digitized by the Arkansas State Archives as part of a joint project entitled “Rohwer Reconstructed,” overseen by the University of Arkansas’ Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies and funded in part by a grant from the National Park Service through the Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program.
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Newspaper article, "Japanese May Purchase Land: 1943 Act is Rules to be Unconsitutional"
Newspaper article discussing the Attorney General's decision to allow Japanese Americans to buy land in Arkansas.
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Newspaper article, "Japanese Repatriates Leave Sunday Night"
Newspaper article discussing the relocation of repatriates from Rohwer Relocation Center to the Tule Lake Center.
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Newspaper article, "Jap Segregation Slated to Begin in September: All Disloyal Evacuees to be Placed in One Camp"
Newspaper article discussing the relocation of disloyal Japanese to the Tule Lake Center.
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Newspaper article, "Japs [sic] From Hawaii Sent To Denson"
Newspaper article discussing Japanese Americans being sent from Hawaii to Jerome Relocation Center.
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Newspaper article, "Jerome Center Engineer Resigns Position"
Newspaper article discussing the resignation of Jerome Relocation Center engineer Guy B. Smith.
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Newspaper article, "Jerome Center Youth Sentenced to Forgery"
Newspaper article about the federal forgery case against Kei Koga, resident of Jerome Relocation Center.
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Newspaper article, "Jerome Medical Head To Speak Here Sunday Night"
Newspaper article about Douglas Collier, doctor at Jerome Relocation Center, giving a lecture on missionary work in Thailand at the Presbyterian Church.
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Newspaper article, "Jerome Paper Covers Story Sabotage"
Newspaper article discussing coverage of happenings at Jerome and Rohwer Relocation Centers.
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Newspaper article, "Joins Agricultural Staff at Rohwer"
Newspaper article discussing the addition of Ben Rives to the Rohwer Relocation Center agricultural staff.
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Newspaper article, "Killin Relieves Col. Niemz Here: Also Heads Work at Alien Camp at Monticello"
Newspaper article discussing the appointment of Hugh E. Killin as Area Engineer for Rohwer and Jerome Relocation Centers.
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Newspaper article, "Last Trainload to Leave Rohwer Sept. 14"
Newspaper article discussing the relocation of the last trainload of non-loyal Japanese Americans to the Tule Lake Relocation Center.
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Newspaper article, "Local Citizens Ask For Strict Rules At Camps"
Newspaper article describing a local committee in Dermott pressing for strict rules regarding Japanese-American movement and community involvement at the Jerome Relocation Center.
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Newspaper article, "Manager At FSA Jerome Settlement Tenders Resignation"
Newspaper article about the resignation of E.C. Gilliam, Acting Community Manager at the Jerome Farm Security Administration settlement.
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Newspaper article, "Military Minutes: Rohwer Officer Graduates from Army Medical School"
Newspaper article discussing Norman T. Kobayashi's graduation from Army Medical School.
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Newspaper article, "More Trouble at Denson Colony: 'Hoodlums' Sought in Attacks at Center"
Newspaper article discussing an attack on internees at the Jerome Relocation Center.
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Newspaper article, "Nationally Known Speakers to be at Rohwer Christian Mission Seminars May 16-21"
Newspaper article discussing missionary speakers visiting Rohwer Relocation Center.
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Newspaper article, "New Additions to Rohwer M.P."
Newspaper article discussing the growth of the military police force at Rohwer Relocation Center.
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Newspaper article, "New Law Will Prevent Japs [sic] From Owning Land Here"
This article discusses Homer Adkins signing the 1943 Arkansas State Act to outlaw Japanese land ownership in the state.
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Newspaper article, "Nineteen Injured in Accident At Jerome Center"
Newspaper article discussing a logging accident that injured nineteen people from Jerome Relocation Center.
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Newspaper article, "Nineteen Pressmen Visit Rohwer Camp"
Newspaper article discussing a press tour of the Rohwer Relocation Center.
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Newspaper article, "No Question Many Japanese Disloyal"
Newspaper article discussing the results from a loyalty exam from an undisclosed relocation center.
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Newspaper article, "Paul Taylor To Leave Jerome Relocation Center"
Newspaper article discussing the resignation of Paul A. Taylor as project director of the Jerome Relocation Center.
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Newspaper article, "Pressmen to Visit Rohwer Center"
Newspaper article discussing a press tour of the Rohwer Relocation Center.
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Newspaper article, "Rohwer Colony Contributes $2300 to the Red Cross"
Newspaper article discussing money raised by the Rohwer Relocation Center for the local Red Cross.
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Newspaper article, "Rohwer Japanese Fatally Injured"
Newspaper article dicussing an accident that fatally injured Seizo Imada.